Four African migrants killed trying to cross the Med

Four African migrants were killed when trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy on a raft, reports from Italy have revealed.

Italy’s ANSA news reported that the Italian navy recovered the bodies just south of the country’s southernmost point, Lampedusa, on Tuesday, after a merchant vessel rescued 67 survivors the previous night.

Italy is the most common destination for migrants to attempt to reach from North Africa and the Middle East, with the number escalating in recent times as a result of the worsening situation in many countries in the region including Syria and Libya. However, the migrants often risk their lives on rickety boats in their desperate efforts to reach Europe, and thousands have been killed in the past few years.

After a number of tragedies in which many lives were lost, Italy launched the Mare Nostrum search-and-rescue operation, which ran between October 2013 and October 2014 and saved an estimated 100,000 migrants from potentially deadly situations, according to figures from the Italian government.

Last month, Mare Nostrum was replaced by the European Union (EU) Frontex border patrol agency’s Triton operation, but Italy’s maritime patrols have continued on a smaller scale nevertheless.